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Thursday, November 10, 2016

Thanks to getting caught up in a single FreeCell game last night, I never got to bed until 12:07 a.m. Yet had I not started the game, I could have gotten to bed just ahead of 11:00 p.m.

That seemed just a bit too early, so I opted to play just one FreeCell game...but it proved to be more difficult than usual.

I never close out of a game or admit defeat. Rather, I keep undoing my moves and then try again. I persist until I finally resolve the solitaire puzzle.

But it was truly irritating.

I had a break in sleep and used the bathroom around 4:50 a.m. And at 8:37 a.m., I checked the time and rose for the day.

My youngest step-son Pote evidently had the day off work ─ he was in bed; but he had earlier used his older brother Tho's car to take his overnighted girlfriend away ─ perhaps she had to work.

At any rate, he got up and then took off late in the morning, and fetched her right back.

So I have had the two of them here to inconvenience my day.

The day has been rather bright out there, with some considerable sunny periods.

I had hoped that I might be able to finish the edit of an old post that I have been working on since last Sunday at one of my hosted websites, but the work had run into the noon-hour. I find that if I persevere too far with this sort of work into the noon-hour ─ or even beyond it ─ then it robs me of the time and vitality to blog here.

As it was, I still needed to return to bed to rest my overtaxed eyes. I suspect that I was in bed for over an hour ─ I never timed myself. But with Pote and his girlfriend here, there seemed scant incentive to resist the allure of this extra bed time.

Google notified me today that it had created a postcard collage of photos to celebrate exactly seven years ago:

I tried my darnedest to locate all three of the old photos, but I am no longer able to access whatever old Picassa Web Albums album it is housed in ─ I was unable to find any trace of the large image at the right.

These are the two smaller ones in the left column ─ Mint at the left, and my wife Jack at the right:

The best I can do is find this image of Jack clearly taken on the same occasion:

Contrary to how the article ends, I think Canadian doctors likely still push mammography.

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It seems that physicians continue to prescribe antibiotics unnecessarily ─ one study said that at least a third of people who get an antibiotic prescription do not even require it.

And even when an antibiotic is deemed necessary, at least half the time the wrong one is prescribed. After all, just because it is an antibiotic most definitely does not mean that it is effective against just any bacteria.

The proper and specific antibiotic has to be prescribed for use against the targeted bacteria ─ not just any antibiotic will do.

Is it any wonder that resistant 'super-bugs' are becoming more widespread and an even greater threat?

Some researchers go so far as to suggest starting up antidepressants in the fall to ward off more serious depression during the winter. What they may not tell you, however, is that the best antidepressant of all is what we're missing the most during these times -- enough sunlight!

And that's exactly where light therapy comes in.

Light therapy devices vary in size and price, but a good one should give you at least 10,000 "lux" of light. They're best used soon after waking up in the morning for around half an hour. A light box for SAD should not be emitting any UV light.

You use it by facing the light source at a distance of around two feet. You don't want to look directly at the light, but your eyes should be open.

Along with a light box, other ways to make sure that winter doesn't get the best of you include:

Making sure you're getting sufficient amounts of vitamin D, the "sunshine vitamin." Because of decreased sun exposure in winter, experts recommend vitamin D3 supplements, usually around 2,000 IUs daily, although some people may require more, which a blood test can determine.

Taking a fish oil supplement containing omega-3 fatty acids.

Getting outside for a walk whenever possible, especially around noon when the sun is brightest. This will not only help elevate your mood and increase the amount of natural vitamin D you get from the sun, which is the best kind, but give you some exercise as well.

Concerning those light boxes, I have seen it recommended to consult a knowledgeable physician about what would be a good one to acquire, for there are versions that are basically fakes.

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I heard a radio weather report that tomorrow ─ Remembrance Day ─ will, as it so often is, be a rather wet one hereabouts.

I now close with a journal entry from 41 years ago when I was 26 years old, and living in a basement housekeeping unit in New Westminster.

The house I was renting the small unit in was located on Ninth Street at Third Avenue.

This was to be one of those days in which I hiked out to Kennedy Heights in Surrey to visit my mother Irene Dorosh. Her home was my main mailing address, but of late an extended postal strike had been in play.

The house is now gone, but its address was 12106 - 90th Avenue; to hike there from my room took about 1½ hours of fast-paced walking.

MONDAY, November 10, 1975I didn't get up till past 5:00 a.m.A half hour later I left for some track running, but didn't find my heart in it, so left after a couple laps, just in time to see someone heading to the track for his run.I am displeased with my fitness routine, and plan a new regimen to commence tomorrow.The post office is still striking, and I am still without a working sunlamp.I am leaving directly for mom's at 8:30 a.m.The day was sunny, but chill.Alex was home.I accompanied mom afoot to Kennedy Heights, and bought a new line switch for my sun lamp (total $1.48) and just over 2/3-lb of sunflower seeds (84¢) for some future bread.I ate with a reasonable check today.Sleepiness really had me in its grip.I failed trying to get hold of Bill after 2:00 p.m. Cathy was on the phone with Alex when I left. Again, my walk home was not unpleasant, except my thighs are rashing up painfully from the friction of constant contact.At Econo-Mart I bought a can of McColl's peanut butter ($2.17) and a Stasky and HutchTV Guide.Bill's car wasn't home when I passed by. I wanted to let him know I'd go to the track with him in the a.m. if he cared to get me.I did no exercise today.I shall be abed at 7:00 p.m.

I had expected my mother's husband to have been gone to work, but he evidently took the day off.

I had tried to phone my old friend William Alan Gill ─ he lived three or four blocks from my room. Was I hoping that he would offer to come and pick me up and so spare me the walk back to New Westminster?

He had recently gotten a medical check-up that scared him, so he claimed that he was going to try and be more active. I expect that he was over 300 pounds at a height of five feet 10 inches at very most.

When I began the walk back to my room, Alex was on the phone with my younger brother Mark's girlfriend, Catherine Jeanette Gunther. Alex and my mother loved Jeanette and her two little girls, and Jeanette loved them.

I used to do my running in whatever pants I was wearing. Thus, between running in them until they became damp, and those long walks, my inner thighs were prey to friction burns.

I never had my pants wear out anywhere but the inner crotch area.

Econo-Mart no longer exists, but it was a chain of supermarkets. The specific outlet I visited was located in the Townline shopping plaza at Scott Road (120th Street) & 96th Avenue.

The tin of McColl's peanut butter would have been 48 ounces.

As for the TV Guide, this was likely the cover:

Of course, walking was definitely exercise. But I was concerned with the exercising of my upper body ─ I was unhappy with whatever my present routine was, and thus I just didn't have the heart to undertake any. No doubt, I was intent on becoming heavily involved in some new routine set for the following day.